accountants fees

**Darren at 1st Accountancy Serv Ltd** · 16 June 2005, 08:47

Accountants

Wish we could get away with 2.5% of invoice value, would be raking it in!!

Most of the accountants on here charge between £50 to £85 plus vat depending on where you look. We charge £55 + vat per month and no doubt Fiddle or Rhino will be along shortly to plug his guys!

**Simon SJDaccountancy** · 16 June 2005, 09:22

I've never quite understood why people are happy paying fees based on a percentage of income. The work for the accountant is the same whether you earn £20 or £50 an hour.

Some composite and umbrellas charge this way, but have never heard of an accountant charging a Ltd Co this way.

If you are happy with the accountant other than this I would insist on him quoting you a fixed fee if I were you.

**4Contractors** · 16 June 2005, 10:45

All contractor accountants I have come across, including ones that definitely are not recommended stick to the fixed fee system. Some charge extra for what they consider to be additional services but the majority charge a fixed annual charge for a comprehensive service that should cover what is required. Our recommended accountant charges £50 + VAT per month, guaranteed for 2 years but does charge £59 extra for a self-assessment return and £100 + VAT for PAYE online. Some of us are more than happy to do SA and PAYE online ourselves - please see website for PAYE online DIY guidance - it's a doddle !!

Umbrella companies on the other hand often charge a percentage of turnover - not really much justification for this method of charging either as likely no extra work involved.

**Debbie Reinvented** · 17 June 2005, 15:23

why are they charging more for PAYE online?
surely it makes life simpler for them (and you)

**Darren at 1st Accountancy Serv Ltd** · 17 June 2005, 16:32

Online Filing

Hi Debbie, been a while?

It certainly does which is why we didn't charge for the set up, push a button and off it goes!

**4Contractors** · 17 June 2005, 18:08

Re: Online Filing

why are they charging more for PAYE online?
surely it makes life simpler for them (and you)

Been missing for a while Debbie - there have been several long posts on this very topic !!

Nobody is perfect and our accountant along with others charged for this service - we think it was opportunistic and greedy but there you go. We also went to some effort to produce a comprehensive guide to online PAYE filing on our website that hopefully helped people avoid paying their accountant for this very simple procedure.

What are you up to these days ?

accountants fees